Gas burners are utilized to generate a flame to heat a product using a gaseous fuel such as acetylene, natural gas, and/or propane, among other fuel sources. The product being heated can be any product. Often, burners are built to individual requirements of either the application or the oven in which they are being utilized. Typically, the burner is designed to provide an even heat release along the burner's length.
One type of gas burners is the ribbon burner. Ribbon burners achieve more effective combustion by significantly increasing the surface area within the burner. For example, tube burners without ribbons may not provide sufficient time for a fuel or mixture to completely burn, so increasing the surface area with ribbons increases fuel consumption and burner efficiency. Ribbon burners are often utilized in heating units where a narrow, uniform sheet or ribbon of flame is desired.
Ribbons are typically manufactured of stainless steel or a similar metal, and are typically placed in groups of multiple ribbons within a gas burner. For example, a plurality of ribbons can be aligned next to each other and then bolted or otherwise connected to each other and then placed in the gas burner during manufacture. This construction results in the increased surface area and increased efficiency observed with ribbon burners. However, the structure of the ribbons is often negatively altered when they are bolted together or bolted into the gas burner, potentially reducing the surface area and efficacy of the ribbons.
Further, in order to replace the gas burner ribbons—often called a ribbon pack—in a ribbon burner, the burner may have to be returned to the manufacturer, disassembled, and the ribbon pack replaced before being shipped back to the customer. Alternatively, the burner might have to be completely replaced when the ribbon pack needs to be replaced, regardless of the state of the gas burner itself.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for systems and methods of bundling ribbon packs together and into gas burners. Further, there is a need in the art for a system and method that enables the quick and easy replacement of ribbon packs in a gas burner.